Cathy Salter

With seasons, it’s the power of air that shapes the pattern of movement on the land.  In the heat of summer, there are days and weeks when the air seems to stop moving altogether.  To hang dry and heavy around all that it touches.  To steal energy and drive good intentions back indoors in search of cool, conditioned air. Now, with the arrival of autumn in the Midwest, our doors and windows are once again open, welcoming in cool breezes and fall temperatures.

But out West, climate induced changes have brought infernal wildfires that have consumed unimaginable acres of forests and devastated communities leaving the region with the worst air quality conditions on the planet.  We mourn the loss of life and property of those suffering from the catastrophic blazes and count our blessings that we can look up at the night sky over the meadow at Boomerang Creek and identify constellations visible through air that is clear and free of hazardous smoke. 

These are indeed unprecedented and stressful times for so many. Our nation is struggling with weather extremes, divisive political divides, the decline of civility, the spread of Black-Lives-Matter demonstrations and related urban conflicts over police policies. We are concerned about fair access to polling places. There’s been a passionate backlash to government cutbacks on our nation’s postal services, inexplicable during a pandemic when absentee and mail-in voting will be at a record high. Communities have conflicting views on how to safely re-open schools and businesses.  And with no cure or predictable end in sight, the COVID-19 pandemic weighs heavily on our collective spirits.

~ Read more in today’s Journal ~